That is ihis future. As for his present... well, his focus will be almost exclusively on the other side of the ball, where he is the Hawks’ starting quarterback.

“I know what people say and I don’t care,” DiThomas said. “He’s too important for us on offense for us to start him on defense. The biggest reason is he’s our starting quarterback. He’s not even on the depth chart (on defense).”

That doesn’t mean McKnight will never play defense, but DiThomas does not want the temptation to overuse him and he’s careful to protect his star player. At a recent practice, DiThomas had to reel in McKnight and an assistant coach who wanted to expand McKnight’s role.

DiThomas did say he would let McKnight return a kickoff.

“I’ll give him one. He said he’s going to return it for a touchdown. If he does, maybe I’ll give him another one,” DiThomas said.

The 6-foot, 170-pound McKnight said he got some recruiting attention by playing on the Ground Zero Football 7 on 7 team.

“I went to a lot of camps, and I got offered by San Diego (State),” he said.

It was a busy spring for McKnight, who was running track for Arroyo Valley and last winter he played basketball as well.

He initially verbally accepted an offer to play for San Diego State, but then changed his mind to San Jose State, where his cousin, Arroyo Valley graduate Damon Ogburn, is a senior safety.

“He probably won’t be playing there next year,” McKnight said. “But he told me a lot about the program and he might still be around.”

And there’s also the chance that McKnight could get there early.

He has a 3.2 GPA, and hopes to graduate early so he can enroll at San Jose State in the winter.

“I want to be able to get there early and get a head start and they said, ‘great,’” McKnight said. “I don’t want to redshirt. My goal is to make it to the NFL.”

That might be his long-term goal, but his short-term goals have changed since he committed to San Jose State.

While he prefers defense because of the physical nature of the position, McKnight is more than willing to play quarterback for the Hawks. “I need to go out and make plays and I want to help my teammates get scholarships,” he said. “I feel relieved (after committing to San Jose State). But I know I have to play hard to help my team win a championship.”

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DiThomas believed McKnight’s defensive skills and knowledge help him on offense.

“As a quarterback, he knows what defenses do,” DiThomas said. “He also does a good job with his footwork and his technique.”

With a scholarship in hand, he’s also not really looking for individual statistics.

“I want to win league and make it past the first round,” McKnight said.